This project received the Zero Project Award 2024 which recognises innovative solutions which remove barriers for persons with disabilities

The project targeted students with hearing and sight difficulties living in refugee camps in the West Bank. The UNRWA Education Department reported that these students had good academic ability in general but were held back by a lack of glasses and hearing aids. Their achievement rate fell compared with other pupils and the drop-out rate rose.

The project sought to provide students with glasses and hearing aids thereby contributing to improving the quality of education based on the fourth goal of the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan.

• 2000 pupils at 74 schools were tested for hearing and sight difficulties

• 556 glasses and 90 hearing aids were provided

It was heartening to see the equipment provided make a real difference in pupils’ education:

• 3 hearing aid users trebled their test scores

• 56 users of glasses or hearing aids at least doubled their test scores

• Users of needed equipment kept pace with the academic achievement of their peers

Drop-out rates

• Baseline average for all schools: 5%; dropped to 1% by the end of the project

An innovative approach

• Launching the first mobile eye and ear health clinic that operates in refugee camp schools and is equipped with the latest technologies necessary to conduct examinations.

• Conducting examinations for students within their schools, which contributed to raising the participation rate

• Giving students opportunities to choose the appropriate eyeglass frame, knowing that we prepare more than 100 types of frames for each school

Rehabilitation into the community

• The isolation which arises from not being able to participate fully due to sight or hearing impairment can affect children negatively

• As part of this project, 24 teachers were trained as trainers on learning for students with audio-visual disabilities and 48 community integration activities were held